Desktop, laptop, or tablet fleet?

Choices abound when it comes to creating a fleet to empower your workforce. When it comes to whether employees should have desktops, laptops, tablets, or all three, there are some basic parts of the decision tree.

Will a desktop do?

Laptops make up 80 percent of the market according to the market researcher IDC. But that doesn’t mean they’re best for your employees.

2. They’ve also come a long way in looks since the days of beige or beige.

3. The cloud has made desktops relevant again. Being able to start a document on the desktop at work and pick it up where I left off on the desktop at home means I don’t need to carry the computer back and forth.

4. Big, high-quality monitors are great for focus—and you can afford one with the money you save not buying a laptop. (And an underpowered laptop might not have what it takes to get the most out of your big, beautiful display.)

If it’s gotta be portable, laptop, or tablet?

If you have to work on the go, tablets are a viable alternative, which gives you a second choice to make after ruling out a desktop. Here’s what you need to think about.

1. Portability

Tablets come out on top here, hands down. For starters, they’re generally 7–11 inches, while laptops are 12–16 inches.

On the other hand, a small laptop might be a touch heavier, but that might be worth it for the enhanced computing power.

2. Performance

No contest: laptops win. Multitasking, for instance, is realistically always easier on a laptop despite advances by tablet makers. It’s all because manufacturers can and most certainly do pack more into those larger cases.

If you like a diverting game, a little web surfing, some light emailing, and reading the news, a tablet is a no-brainer. If you’re looking for something with the grunt for more in-depth tasks and multiple programs loaded, then a laptop is probably the way to go (unless you’re ready to go for one of the high-end tablets on the market).

3. Battery

Tablets bounce back here. They’re smaller and don’t have to power as much, so they run longer on a charge.

4. Software

Tablets are built around apps where laptops are portable versions of the desktop experience. When you’re thinking of doing anything that requires more than tapping a screen, think laptop.

5. Storage

Generally speaking, laptops have more internal storage, although that might not be important to you if you’re based in the cloud. And there are tablets that offer better-than-average internal storage.

When it comes to storage, it’s definitely a matter of whether you need to keep your files on your machine. If you do, a laptop is the way to go.

There might not be any surprises here for you, but many people rule out desktops prematurely. For convenience, versatility, and horsepower, you could be better off with multiple desktops than one portable laptop.